More Birthday Pictures

Better late than never! Right? We had a big birthday party for Jia at her grandma and papa's house on June 13th and we rocked the house! Well, not exactly, but we did have a wonderful day and Jia felt all the joy and love that comes with a day that was all about her. I think the highlight of the event was a big box of dress up clothes from her grandma. I had never played "dress-up" with Jia so I was amazed when she dove right in and delighted in her big hat, frilly skirt, and feathery mules! Best pictures of the day! She may be only 3 but she's clearly hardwired pure little girl!

We're all good here even if we are suffering through 100 plus degree days. Whew. Summer is most certainly not my favorite time of the year. We do have some things to look forward to this summer - Jia's Aunt Laura and her Illinois cousins Sara and Patrick will be visiting soon and we can't wait! Hopefully we can do some day trips to Busch Gardens or other fun destinations.

Hope everyone is having a super summer and staying cool!

Happy Birthday to Our Big Girll

Happy Birthday my sweet Jia! You are getting to be such a big girl! But you'll always be my baby! We love you so much and are so very blessed to be your mommy and daddy! I hope this day is delightful, joyful, silly, special and everything that is you!

I made Jia a lopsided tacky birthday cake which is a family tradition! She got lots of fun stuff and even had a party at her new school! Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Love you Jia!!!

So Many Changes

Time goes by so fast - cliche but true. The month has passed in warp speed and we've had many changes! Jia, in 7 days, is no longer a "baby" but a big girl with big girl pants and no more diapers. We spent a weekend together watching an amazing video and reading the accompanying book - pulled out the potties and have had only a hand full of accidents since. Amazing. She was obviously ready and so was the mom so we did it! (She did it.) Jia is a big girl in so many ways. She understands and communicates far beyond what I think is possible. I'm astounded by her everyday. Her dad is quite a gardener and we go outside and explore nature and see the birds and butterflies. We've added a bird feeder and she loves to watch the birds and fill the feeder with her dad each day. One day the dad said to me "Jia is no longer a baby" - I was like, "duh!" but he continued and what had happened amazed me. He said that while driving to school one morning they were stopped at a light and he looked over and saw her looking at a bird. He said "hi, sweetie, are you looking at the birdie?". In exasperated response Jia said "it's a Robin daddy". He looked again and darned if she wasn't exactly correct! She's amazing. I'm including some fairly recent pictures. As previously noted, she is difficult to get on film these days.

Jia will start a new summer school this summer and she is very excited! She will get all of the stimulation and joy a (soon to be) 3 year old wants and needs!

Love to all.

Hi All

Sorry for lack of posts. Where has April gone? Whew. Busy, busy, busy. I don't know if I'll have time to post any pics today but just wanted to say all is great in Jia land! She is holding entire conversations now and doesn't stop moving, talking and on some days, fussing from dawn to dusk! Hah. She is eating like crazy and we know she is in an amazing developmental and physical growth explosion. She has grown an inch in the last 2 months as well as gained about a pound and a half - which is a lot in a quick time at this age!

We're heading to the boat today for the first time this season. The last time she was on the boat Jia was a little girl and now, at least according to her, she's a big girl. So it will be interesting to say the least. She doesn't like bugs these days. In fact, she throws a fit of monumental proportions when she sees one. We'll see - there are most certainly bugs to be seen today. Maybe we'll get lucky.

I'll try to get some pictures of our trip. Hope all is well with everyone!

Kool Kids

A couple of wonderful pictures from Jia's cousin Melissa's 7th birthday party. These are rock stars in the making! Jia does have a bit of a runny nose, but, hey, that's a perpetual state these days. And Melissa, hello, can you say MOVIE STAR???

Beautiful

Back to our regularly scheduled program - pictures of Jia! Not much to say tonight but want to add a few pictures that will brighten your day!

I'm Ready for My Close-Up

Jia is an amateur photographer, in case you haven't heard! She loves, loves, loves taking pictures with her mom's camera. She even knows to put the strap around her arm so as not to drop and break the delightful contraption. It's getting increasingly difficult for me to get shots of her since she insists on being the photographer. Tonight I was trying to explain again how it works. She's got the pushing of the button down pat. She knows how to turn it on and off and that it's a no-no to do so in rapid succession. Tonight the lesson involved taking a picture of the intended object. She got a lot of shots of me during the lesson. I have the following observations about the pictures I've included:

1. Honey, hey, I'm over here.
2. See, point the camera a little higher.
3. I need a filter, God knows, but that's a little strong.
4. Your mom is old and tired, bug eyes should try to be minimized.
5. Ah, there you go - your mom even looks a little bit like a hottie. Heh. From now on, Jia takes all my pictures!

Cheese As Art

Random Monday evening - Jia won't sleep (typical with her Type A I'm Learning personality). It is late and she is playing in the kitchen while I make dinner for the Dad and lunches for the next day. Despite having eaten quite a big dinner she proclaims that she is "hungie". Jia loves to play in our kitchen pantry and while doing so I give her some of the standard orange processed American cheese. She eats the first slice and asks for another. Hmmm. Really hungry I think and peel the next slice from its plastic ickiness. Jia heads back into the pantry. Soon she is back out asking for "glue". Huh? "Glue mommy". Low and behold when I look in the pantry she has created quite the cheese art. She tore the second piece of cheese into various geometric shapes and slapped them against Nora's (our dog) big tupperware dog food bin but one piece was not quite sticking so well and falling forward. Thus the request for glue.

Have I commented lately about how smart our daughter is at 2.5 years old? Wow.

Love to all - here are some late and incomplete photos of cheese as art and also random making a cake with her dad photos.

The Leaning Tower of Toilet Tissue

I went grocery shopping Friday just before I picked Jia up at her Aunt LaLa's house. LaLa mentioned that she had been fussy and had not eaten all that well all day. Having that information I thought maybe it would be fun (and a distraction) for Jia to help her mom unload groceries once we got home. Well, it was a big hit. A tip to all of you who may have 32 month old children or grandchildren - just pop open a 12 pack of toilet paper and you're golden! I can't even adequately describe how much fun Jia had putting the TT (toilet tissue) away, bringing it back out and ultimately building the TT tower of fun! And check out the glee with which she most carefully tipped over the tilting tower of toilet tissue! (I'm having way too much fun with this T thing).


Anyway, all is hunky dory in Jia land. I made some breakfast for us this morning. Eggs, large, brown, cage free, grade A from vegetarian fed hens ( you tell me, is all that REALLY worth $2.50 a dozen? I didn't pop for the $3.50 organic version and feel a bit guilty about it.) A couple of these pictures are to show what a wonderful breakfast we had together. While I was cooking, Jia was working at her own kitchen and she created quite a surprise for her mom. She has these toy cupcakes which we store in a proper muffin pan in her kitchen. While I was cooking, she was preparing a special treat- she placed 4 cupcakes on specially selected dishware and explained that one was mine, one was hers, one was for her dad (who was still asleep) and one was for Nora (our dog). I love this child. We had a delightful breakfast of eggs, toast and rubber cupcakes.

p.s. I love this child.

Random Shots Around the House

Jia is talking up a storm. Full sentences! Well, modified full sentences - but you can understand what she is asking. And she is always asking! Who's that? That's the question of the month so far. She most often means "what's that" but we know what she means! We've had more snow, more snow, more snow with more snow on the way. I'll be glad when we're done with this winter. A few pictures to reflect our snowy realty and some to brighten your day!

Pack Mule BackPack at Two!

Kids go to school with massive backpacks - even at 2! I love these photos. This is Jia's backpack for school. We don't send her off with this on her back - no worries! She usually proudly carries this into her Montessori classroom but on this particular Saturday, she wanted to wear it properly on her back! She's a strong little one! It even has a special place for her phone!

All is well here. Very tired of winter - Jia routinely shouts "summer!" and I concur. She knows summer means pool, lazy days and the ever appealing trip to the beach. It will be here soon enough I suppose. Best to all.

Busy!

Once again I apologize for not getting new pics or posts up lately. We have been mind numbingly busy it seems. Where does the time go? Jia is doing wonderfully. She's in some kind of developmental/physical spurt! She is constantly "hungy" and I can't seem to get enough food into her. Her vocabulary is exploding and she is putting words together incredibly well. I have a feeling we'll have a little chatty patty on our hands in just a number of months. She's grown 1/2 an inch in the past month too. She's both charming and devilish - sweet with periods of terrible twos thrown in for fun. Whew. I'm a tired mommy. Add to all of that the fact that I think I'm getting a whopper of a cold and you'll surely understand the lack of posts!

Here a few more shots from Christmas!